Slowly Burning
by carryon01
Summary: It's the trio's 5th year at Hogwarts and Hermione has a lot to deal with- from Umbridge being the new headmaster to you-know-who's rumored return. Not to mention, her whole reputation will be ruined if even a single soul finds out about her relationship with a certain someone. Will her 5th year at Hogwarts be the best year of her life or the worst yet? DM/HG
1. Chapter 1

Hermione stares at Draco as she works, watching everything from his hand gestures when he talks, to the way his eyes get just a little brighter every time he laughs. Not that she notices that kind of stuff.

It was agonizing. Torturous really, seeing Draco flirt with every girl in the room except her. None of them _actually_ like him the way does; they just want to sleep with him. And although no one would guess it, she was jealous. It was like the anger she felt was coursing its way through her body, slowly burning her heart vein-by-vein, artery-by-artery. She shouldn't feel like this. She likes a guy who teased her for _years_ , called her various awful slurs, and is just a generally rude person. But she does.

She sighs inaudibly and returns to actually doing her schoolwork. She does, after all, have a test in 2 weeks that she needs to study for.

Now it's Ron's turn to stare. "What were you doing staring at Malfoy over there? I know your standards are low, I mean, you dated me, but why him? He's a bloody lunatic!"

She rolls her eyes, "I was looking for Professor Umbridge, not staring at him! Why would I be staring at such an awful human being?" Hermione smiles a bit, grateful for her ability to make up a convincing story on the spot, probably because of all that reading.

"Sure… So you wouldn't care if I told Malfoy you thought he was fit? That you're totally over the moon for him?" he teases, triggering a bright blush over Hermione's pale complexion.

She doesn't reply but goes back to her schoolwork instead. Just as she puts her quill down on parchment, the bells ring throughout the school. Class is dismissed. She gathers her things and places them in her book bag, quickly leaving the room to avoid any further embarrassment.

Draco appears beside her, "I saw you staring at me a few minutes ago…" he smirks as he waits for the brunette's response. She stays silent and continues walking. "Oh I get it… you're embarrassed I saw you ogling me. I'm not blind, mudblo-"

"Don't you _ever_ call me that, you little git," She pushes him against the closest wall and presses her wand to his throat. "You wanna call me that again?" Silence. "Go on, do it. It's not any different than it's been any other time; the only difference being my wand is at your throat. So I'll ask you again, do you _really_ want to take your chances calling me that?"

"Hermione Granger! Get off that man immediately!" Hermione spins around almost immediately. McGonagall. She releases the whimpering Slytherin.

"My father will hear about this! You'll be expelled, just you wait!" Hermione ignores his calls and instead turns to McGonagall.

"Come with me."

~5 minutes later, in McGonagall's office~

"How dare you act like that? I've never seen you do anything even close to that a day of my life and I've known you since you were 11!" McGonagall scolds, eliciting a sharp response from Hermione.

"But Professor, he called me a mudbl- I don't even want to say the word, it repulses me so much! He's been tormenting me ever since I've known him for no reason! And now he has the nerve to say I was _ogling him_?"

"Ms Granger, it doesn't matter what he did, you know the rules."

"Yes, bu-" She tries desperately to get herself out of this situation, but to no avail.

"No buts. You know the rules. Therefore, I think it seems fitting that you face the consequences that any other student would face. Granted, you are a great student and you rarely ever do anything like this, so maybe yours will be a bit more mild." Hermione nods solemnly, ready to hear the repercussions of her actions.

"5 days after school detention until 9pm and you must apologize to Mr Malfoy." Hermione nods and leaves her office, muttering a quiet thank you.

~Later that day during detention~

Hermione walks into the trophy hallway, as today's detention assignment is to polish every trophy in the room. She groans, seeing a certain blonde haired boy.

Malfoy.

"Oh _no_ , did the perfect, intelligent Hermione Jean Granger do something _wrong_?" Draco mocks, coming closer to Hermione. "I never would've thought such a teacher's pet could do something," he gasps mockingly, clutching his chest, " _unacceptable."_

Hermione simply rolls her eyes, "Shove off, Malfoy. You know what I did and I would gladly do it again if I need to."

Draco smirks, "So you'd _gladly_ push me up against a wall, huh? Can't say I'd mind, I just never pegged you as that type of person. I always pictured you as mo-"

Hermione cuts him off with a sharp slap to his cheek. He doesn't even flinch, "That the best you got, Granger?" Hermione brings her knee up, about to hit him where the sun doesn't shine, when a low, harsh voice echoes through the room.

Snape.

"Hermione Granger, I believe your _muggle_ parents did not raise you to act like this, am I correct?" His voice is stern and strong, not one to be messed with.

"No sir, they did not bu-"

"No buts. I don't care why you were acting the way you were. I simply need you to stop. Now shut up and polish those trophies." Hermione nods viciously, grabbing silver polishing cloth and opening a cabinet, but Malfoy doesn't budge. "You too Draco."

Malfoy glares at Snape before snatching silver polishing cloth and going next to Hermione. He is about to speak when Snape's voice sounds again. "Away from Granger, Draco."

Hermione smiles, and for the first time ever, she is grateful that Snape is in the room.

 **Hey guys, thanks for reading, I really appreciate it! I'll probably be updating fairly soon, and for those of you who know my other account, sorry this isn't the update to that one Divergent fic y'all have been wanting for literally over a year now! Please review and tell me what you think, I appreciate reviews of all kinds, even if they're rude, because it gives me something else to talk about lol. Anyways thank you and I'll be updating soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**lmao it's literally been a year since I updated sorry**

"Hello, Granger." Draco appears behind the trio of Hermione, Harry, and Ron as they sit in the Dining Hall.

"Go away, you arse. She doesn't want to see you. Do you not remember what happened earlier?" Ron's face is bright red and Draco maintains a calm composure.

"Why don't you let the lady speak?" He looks pointedly at Hermione and cracks a grin, "Weasleys, right?"

She stabs at her Yorkshire pudding with her fork, "Draco, I really don't want to talk to you right now. Don't you have some girl to harass in the halls?"

He leans down, his warm breath on her earlobe sending a shiver down her spine. "Meet me in the West Wing tonight. 11:30. Don't get caught, we don't need anymore trouble between us." She glares at him before he speaks again, "I need your help, Hermione." He buttons the second top button of his shirt before leaving, his Slytherin robes dancing behind him.

"Geez, the nerve of him! Why does he think he can just show up and talk to you?" Harry says, his pupils dilating as he speaks.

Hermione shakes her head, shoving a piece of prime rib in her mouth, "I don't know. He's insane. I mean, he asked me to meet him in the West Wing at 11:30 at night! What kind of idiot would do that?"

Harry shakes his head, "I don't know Hermione, I get a weird feeling about him. You know who his dad's involved with. And I've seen him having conversations with Snape lately. Something's going on."

Hermione stays quiet and makes a decision that will later change her life. She's going to the West Wing tonight.

Hermione sits next to Pavarti, Neville, and Pansy Parkinson in Potions class. Of course, she already knows the whole lesson Professor Snape is teaching, so she lets her mind wander. She is thinking about her Arithmancy test in 2 weeks when she feels a set of eyes on her. She turns around, seeing Draco's grey eyes piercing through her skull. Hastily, she looks away, more eager than ever for Potions class to end. She makes eye contact with Pansy, who is sitting across from her, staring at Draco and lazily drawing hearts on her paper. Pansy glares at Hermione and she simply gives a small smile in return.

She begins to think about Draco, about his lightning grey eyes, his soft, platinum blonde hair, even his chiseled chest under his expensive tailored shirt. She imagines his soft lips on hers and the way it would feel when his mouth reaches her neck, spreading kisses along her collarbone. She imagines unbuttoning his shirt, slowly trailing her hands up and down his back, her hands gripping his waist as his hips grind up into hers. She finds her hand moving up her thigh as she imagines being with Draco, his hands finding their way to her black bra, "Ms. Granger, did you decide to skip the reading last night in favor of talking with your friends?"

"What?" She is shocked as she quickly moves her hand away from her upper thigh, making eye contact with Professor Snape. "No sir, I read the whole Potions book last week during Transfigurations." She comes up with a smart reply on the spot, but Snape finds a way to twist her words.

"I'll be sure to tell Professor McGongagall that you are bored in your classes and are choosing to waste your time working on unnecessary tasks during your valuable class time."

She nods, not knowing what else she can say. Pavarti and Neville stare at her, and when she makes eye contact with them they glance down at their potions books immediately, not wanting to get in a fight with Hermione. The bell rings a few minutes later, and class is dismissed.

The rest of the day is fairly uneventful for Hermione; she only had to take one quiz, which she scored a 100 on, and she was able to visit Hagrid for afternoon tea with Ron and Harry, Buckbeak being out in the pumpkin patch.

Later that day, after everyone has been in bed for about half an hour, Hermione sneaks out of bed, avoiding the creaky floorboard at the front of her dormitory. She puts on her robes, choosing not to wear a tie over her pristine white shirt. She grabs her wand, quietly whispering Lumos! as she enters the corridors.

The hallways are pitch black and her feet are soft as she walks, almost as quiet as a ghost.

Hermione sees the entrance to the West Wing when she hears footsteps behind her. She jumps, aiming her wand at the offender and moving into the dark shadow of the halls. She sees Luna leave the Ravenclaw dormitories, and sighs. She's probably just getting a midnight snack. Nothing to worry about.

She enters the West Wing, keeping an eye out for a certain blonde-haired boy. She is about to turn around and go back to the Gryffindor dormitories, when a small voice is heard behind her. "Hello."

She turns immediately, aiming her wand at his chest. "Whoa, whoa, hold up, Granger. It's just me." She makes eye contact with him and puts her wand down slowly, still slightly wary of the fellow fifth-year. He's wearing a tight black long sleeved t shirt and green plaid Slytherin pants. His nipples poke through his shirt, his strong muscles pressing against the fabric- not that she noticed, of course. "Come with me back to my dormitory. Don't worry, we won't get caught."

She shakes her head, "And why would I want to go to your room? I don't want to sleep with you, Malfoy."

"I know. I need your help with my grades, and you're practically the Valedictorian. Just help me out."

She nods, "Okay, but we're going to my room, not yours. I don't like being in the dungeons with a boy I don't trust."

"Understandable. Lead the way."

They reach her room a brisk 3 minutes later- she was counting every second. "Ginger snaps." She whispers quietly, and the painting opens.

She casts a "silencio" spell over her bedchamber and Draco pulls a folded piece of parchment out of his back pocket. His report card. He hands it to her and she gingerly opens it, revealing a vast array of P's and A's. He's not doing well.

"Well, what do you think?" He's sitting with one leg crossed under his thigh as he picks at his fingernails.

"I think you need to pay more attention to your academics. Not fool around with so many girls. It's not helping your grades, Draco."

He nods, "Yeah, I need to up my standards- I mean I slept wit-"

"I don't need to hear about who you slept with, Draco."

He rolls his eyes, "I really need help with Potions and Arithmancy."

"Alright," She pulls her Advanced Arithmancy textbook from underneath her bed, opening it to the first chapter. "Do problems 1-30 and give it back to me tomorrow. During Potions."

"Yes, ma'am." He says with a glint in his eye, as he takes the textbook and sets it behind himself. "Now let's see where this can go."

Draco leans closer to Hermione, his warm breath passing over her cheek. His lips press against her jawline, his kisses moving down her neck.

She pushes him away, "Draco, there's someone else. I don't want to do this."

He furrows his eyebrows, "You don't mean that git, Weasley, do you? You can do so much better than him." He leans in, their noses bumping, "Just give me a chance, Hermione." And for a second, she considers giving in. She thinks about how his lips would feel on hers, how soft they must be.

But she can't. He's Draco Malfoy. His father is a Death Eater. And Hermione tells herself Ron is a better option than Draco, but looking at him now, she can't fully convince herself.

"I'm sorry, Draco. I can't." She composes herself, bringing her hair over her shoulders and placing the books and papers in an orderly pile. "I think you should go."

He takes the Arithmancy book and stands up. "I'll see you tomorrow, Granger."

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